Professional education in urban planning: A framework for growth

Abstract

Expanded interest in socio-economic problems have created new opportunities for the urban planning profession. Because of their emphasis on physical and land-use aspects of the city, traditional educational programs in urban planning have been unable to deal adequately with these new opportunities. Changes in program orientation and emphasis to meet these new challenges have started to take place in some urban planning departments. It remains to be seen how effective some of these changes will be over the long run. This paper considers some current aspects of urban planning education. The role of professional education in our society is examined along with the role of science in planning. Based on this analysis, a framework is proposed for the future growth of professional education in urban planning. Because of its strong orientation towards a “science of planning”, this proposal appears to be somewhat different than other changes currently being considered in some urban planning programs.